Libra's Position

In addition to its two main stars, Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneshemali, Libra has another named star: Zubenelakrab. This name means price of the conflict.

Lest anyone think that The Scales represents a general conflict between good and evil, or even personal inner conflict, Libra's position along the ecliptic shows that its prophetic import is more specific than those ideas.

Libra lies between Virgo and Scorpius—Virgo who carries the promised Seed, and Scorpius the enemy. These huge constellations reflect the enmity between the woman's Seed and the serpent, as first stated by the LORD God to the serpent:

Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15

"Because you have done this" refers to the serpent's deception so that the woman disobeyed God's command.

"Cursed more than all cattle/And more than every beast of the field" is borne out in the often heard "I hate snakes!" People feel revulsion toward snakes more than any other animal.

"On your belly you shall go" is part of the reason for that revulsion. We think of the snake as silent, secret and sly, slithering towards its prey. That craftiness characterizes evil, and those crushing coils the fear of death.

". . . Enmity between you and the woman/And between your seed and her seed" describes the condition of the human race since that time. We try to resist evil only to be overpowered by it.

"He shall bruise your head/And you shall bruise His heel." It has always been recognized in cultures around the world, even those without the Bible, that One must come to deliver us from this condition of sin and death.

And that leads us back to Libra and to Zubenalakrab. The price of the conflict—the only solution for evil and death—is that the coming Seed must engage the enemy in deadly combat.

That Seed is Christ (Galatians 3:16; 4:4). The bruising He received was the wound of death. By His death and resurrection He defeated the one who had the power of death.

"Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Hebrews 2:14-15.